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Tuesday, May 3, 2011

Lunch with old co-workers

Today I had lunch with the old work crew. I was dreading it to a certain extent - the reminder of work... but then I reminded myself that I'm free of all that so I was able to have a good time and enjoy everyone's company (and in fact got in a few ha ha moments). I was surprised with how little work talk there actually was - what with the election results, Osama's death, and other worldly topics there was lots to talk about. It was great seeing them all again. What a great group of people they are.

Today's word of the day is odious (OH-dee-us adjective - : arousing or deserving hatred or repugnance : hateful). This is a fitting word as I headed into the dentist this morning. Always a fun visit, but at least this time it was just for a cleaning and nothing major. Last year around this time I developed a WICKED toothache which turned out to be an infection from a cracked molar. I spent two nights at the hospital as the swelling was so bad they worried that it might cut off my airway. It was an odious visit full of long times sitting around.

They were short of beds so I had to say in the emergency ward, where of course they were also short of beds. I lucked into an observation room overnight but the rest of the time was spent sitting in the emergency waiting room. Thank goodness my angel of a mother came and sat with me throughout the day - I would have been lost without my mommy. There were one other observation room in the little hallway, often occupied by people that needed constant supervision (i.e. a guard). One of the nights there was a woman in the room next door that was deemed a danger to herself and others. The poor security guard had a devil of a time keeping her in her room. Every now and again she would make a break for it and he'd have to usher her back to her room. At one point I heard him say "PLEASE put your nightgown back on...". I felt for both of them, but it did make for a long night.

The other night there was a cot outside my door with a drunk they had picked up off the streets. There was a security guard with him also. As the guy became more and more sober he made more and more of a fuss. He got rather loud at points, so another long night. Needless to say I was exhausted by the time I got home (oh how good my own bed felt).

In the end, after the antibiotics had done their job to kill infection I had to have the offending tooth removed. You might be able to guess that this was no great hell either. The doctor had to give me 3 injections to get even a hint of freezing. It was horrible - those needles are wicked and I felt each one. In the end he tried without the freezing. He got the tooth out and it hurt, but not nearly as much as the toothache had.

My pleasures today: waking up to the alarm clock - okay that's not really a pleasure but I love how the dogs just spring up the instant the radio comes on. How can they wake up so fast?

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